Hit the Whitefish Trail during May to get outside, support local trails

Whitefish Legacy Partners’ fifth annual Hit the Trail Challenge returns in May. The challenge is a month-long outdoor community event to see how many miles we can run, hike, and ride on the Whitefish Trail as a community and individually. For every mile traveled on the trail and submitted to Whitefish Legacy Partners, $1 will be donated to support the Whitefish Trail and our local protected lands.

Over the course of the month, WLP will compile the logged miles with fun weekly updates celebrating everyone’s progress and accomplishments. Additionally, to encourage participation and friendly competition, awards and raffle prizes will be awarded to individuals and teams who hit announced targets throughout the month.

Last year, HeartStone Advisors narrowly defeated Glacier Nordic Club in the Workplace Teams competition. HeartStone logged exactly 100 entries throughout the month, mostly hiking and running, totaling 600+ miles and won the beloved Shelldon the Turtle trophy.

WLP’s goal is for this year’s Hit the Trail Challenge to be the biggest yet. Last year’s challenge engaged over 600 unique individuals including all grade levels at Whitefish Middle School and 12 Workplace Teams. Over 29,000 miles were logged — 6,100 miles were hiked, 12,806 miles were biked, 4,055 miles were run, and 34 miles were logged on horseback. Using average levels of intensity for these activities, participants spent approximately 6,215 hours recreating outside burning over 2.7 million calories during the month of May and raising about $29,000 for the Whitefish Trail.

Every year May is always a great month to be out on Whitefish’s local trails. Snow melts early down low with plenty of south-facing WT sections. Wildflowers abound, and after a long and mostly cloudy winter, we are all eager to reconnect with our local trail community of Whitefish Trail friends and families. Let this Challenge inspire you to live a more active and healthy life while hiking, walking, running, biking or horseback riding all month long outside. Participate as an individual for free or participate as a Workplace Team for a small fee. School groups, community groups and nonprofits can participate as Workplace Teams for free. Grab your neighbors and compete as a Homeowners Association Team.

Miles are logged using an online form, by submitting a paper log sheet, or by joining our Hit the Trail Challenge Strava Club. 2023 Whitefish Trail Hit the Trail Challenge sponsors include Parkside Credit Union, the IV Element, High Stakes Foundation, BlueCross BlueShield of Montana, HeartStone Advisors, The Wave and Logan Health Whitefish.

Sign up and log your miles this May at www.whitefishlegacy.org/hitthetrail

“The Whitefish Trail and surrounding open lands are one of our community’s greatest free health and wellness resources,” says Cynthia Ingelfinger, Director of Development for Whitefish Legacy Partners. “Our Hit the Trail Challenge encourages the community to improve physical and emotional health through outdoor recreation while supporting our local trails and reconnecting in nature after a long winter.”

The Whitefish Trail is the anchor project of Whitefish Legacy Partners and the result of collaborative partnerships providing public access and recreation while protecting clean water, thriving forests, and prime wildlife habitat on open lands located in the urban interface of Whitefish Montana. To date, Whitefish Legacy Partners and City of Whitefish have established 47 miles of a recreational trail system accessed by 15 trailheads.